Importation d'avion de combat = Taxe

[av8r]

Voici un article qui a été imprimé aujourd'hui dans le Calgary Herald. Un entrepreneur a tenté d'importer deux avions de combat sans payer de taxe en survolant la frontière. Disons que c'est une situation inhabituelle. L'article est vraiment intéressant.

Fighter jet importer flies into tax trouble

Gwendolyn Richards
Calgary Herald


Wednesday, October 25, 2006


A Calgary man who brought two fighter jets into the country has racked up nearly $400,000 in fines and penalties for trying to fly under the tax radar.

Michael Carl Smith, 47, and Albatros Aircraft Corp. were each fined $50,000 Tuesday under the Customs Act after pleading guilty to possession of the unlawfully imported jets.

Smith has previously paid $268,734 in a civil penalty to retrieve his planes after they were seized by police last year.

"We don't get cases like this very often," Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman Lisa White said Tuesday.

Smith flew one of the Aero Vodochody L39 jets over the border on May 24, 2004, declaring he was bringing the U.S.-registered aircraft into the country for a Transport Canada inspection.

He brought the second jet in on July 17 of the same year.

Staff Sgt. Ken Chatel of the Calgary RCMP customs and excise section said it appears the jets were going to be used for airshow appearances.

"They were for personal use," he said.

In October 2004, the two jets were registered with Transport Canada, listing Smith and the company as owners, but no taxes had been paid on the jets worth more than $1.1 million.

Chatel said that's when police and the border agency began investigating.

Police seized the planes in June 2005, but released them back to Smith after he paid a penalty. The taxes on the two jets would have been $77,000, Chatel said.

"It's definitely a unique case," Chatel said.

The Aero L39 was developed in Czechoslovakia during the Cold War and used as a trainer.

[OlivierC-FWOL]

C'est pas mal normal pour n'importe quel avion, rien d'énnervant là.

:roll: